Profile
My background is in theatre and film. I played several roles on stage and in film productions in Texas where I used to live, but later turned my attention to directing film.
My exposure as an actor to theatre techniques and performance practices later played a major role in my approach to directing film. I became fascinated by the relationship between theatre and film and the relative dearth of films that utilize the many aesthetic resources of theatre. This in turn led me to pursue theoretical and practical studies concerned with the relationship between the two art forms and in particular how theatre techniques and performance practices can provide filmmakers with opportunities to explore new possibilities.
I have applied these studies and interests in the film-theatre relationship in several workshops and lectures that I have given at Queen Mary and Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. And I am presently exploring the possibility of developing them into one- and two-day workshops that will focus on three specific film-theatre techniques and practices – improvisation, the use of the duration image within an open frame, and Brechtian alienation techniques.
Research
Research Interests:
My dissertation for the MA at Queen Mary on the improvisation work of Mike Leigh and my subsequent participation as a teaching associate in film directing workshops led me to explore further both how theatre techniques and performance and rehearsal practices provide a wide palette of opportunities for film production and how film pedagogy could be expanded to incorporate ‘film-theatre’ studies and practices.
These interests led to my PhD thesis, The Modality of Film-Theatre: Disrupting the Absorption Effects of Hollywood Mode Films, which resulted in 2023 in my doctorate from Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. I am presently working on a monograph based on the thesis and developing a programme of workshops that explore the practical aspects of his research. The thesis proposes ‘film-theatre’ as a new theoretical and practical approach for disrupting the absorption effect of nearly all mainstream films and many independent or ‘art house’ films.
Publications
I have written and directed several short films, both fiction and documentary, including Espresso con Panna, Air, Dialogue for Dyslexia, and a study of the making of a new play, Shakespeare’s Keeper.
More recently, since returning to London from Texas, I directed, executive produced and co-wrote a feature film, Waking David, which has been shown in numerous film festivals in the USA and UK and won and was nominated for awards in various categories, including best film, supporting actor and director. Waking David incorporated in a practical manner many of the theatre techniques that were the subject of my research and thesis. The screenplay was developed by the three lead actors and me through a structured improvisation and rehearsal process, and both the preparation for the shoot and the actual shoot relied more extensively on theatre approaches to rehearsal than the more conventional series of setups used in most films.
I have also expanded my work into theatre directing, featuring a production of The Wasp, at the 2019 Brighton Fringe Festival.
